Ticket Printing Options for Small Venue Organizations



Posted: Tuesday, August 17, 2010

by Malkay
http://www.handytix.com

Every venue operator requires a means of printing tickets . But what are the choices to be had and what are the comparative merits of each option?

If you are only selling tickets to general admission events, then issuing tickets is very easy as you can simply purchase a roll of admission tickets from various suppliers. But if you offer reserved tickets, it becomes somewhat more complicated as clearly all tickets must be uniquely numbered with row and seat number and maybe section or door numbers.

The most basic method adopted by many small organizations is to simply design a ticket with the name and date of the event plus other information as required using a word processor, copy the text so that several tickets can be printed on a single sheet of paper, and then print the pages , perhaps on coloured paper or take the file to the local printshop and request them to print the tickets. Then when tickets are being sold , the row and seat number is simply hand written on the ticket.

A more advanced technique is to purchase pre-printed tickets from a company that specialises in printing box office tickets . In this case, the entire batch of tickets required for the event is printed complete with seat and row numbers. The ticket blanks can also be printed with security measures such as bar codes or holograms.

Another method of printing tickets is to acquire software that is expressly designed to print box office tickets. In this case, you stipulate exactly what you would like printed on the ticket, together with pictures and logos. Nevertheless you will still require an appropriate printer to print the tickets. Most programs offer the capability of printing tickets with a standard laser or inkjet printer where several tickets are printed on a single letter or A4 sized sheet of paper. You can purchase paper perforated for use as tickets from specialist paper suppliers for this particular purpose, or you may be able to request your local printer to perforate sheets of paper to your specific requirements . With printing software you can also print tickets with specialised thermal ticket printers like those manufactured by Boca Systems or Practical Automation. Unfortunately, such printers tend to be somewhat expensive and may be outside the budget of small venue operators.

The most sophisticated way of printing tickets is probably to use ticketing software that will not just print fully customizable tickets , but will record ticket sales , maintain customer records and considerably more including the option to sell tickets online. And nowadays, ticket sales software is surprisingly affordable , with many firms simply charging a small fee according to the value of all tickets sold through their ticketing system .

So for even the smallest organisations who are seeking a simple but sophisticated way of printing tickets, box-office ticketing software is definitely worthwhile bearing in mind for the added benefits it can offer.

For further guidance about choosing box office ticketing software for online or offline events, Handytix has a downloadable report which you may find helpful.
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